jb58809

Hi

UK Family of 5 (3 kids 12 to 17) looking at a drive from SF to LA over 2 weeks. Any ideas of itinery or where I can get ideas from? looking to travel summer time

Cheers
JB

sf7307

Are you interests natural vs. man-made? Do you want to hike, bike, eat, drive, go to museums, shop, all of the above? Like big cities or small towns? Plan to drive down the coast? Enjoy great scenery or great architecture?

Sorry for all the questions, but it's hard to answer yours without knowing something about you.

sf7307

Forgot one - does "LA" mean the greater LA area --- and are you planning on including theme parks?

PaulRabe

One other question -- does "two weeks" mean that you want to
1) visit the Bay Area, spend two weeks traveling to the Los Angeles area, and then visit there?
2) visit the Bay Area, travel to the Los Angeles area, and then visit there; all in three weeks total?

janisj

or 3) you have 2 weeks total for SF, LA plus the bits in between?

kathieAHPlanner

4) go swimming or hang out at the beach or a pool?
5) Do you fly into SF and out of LA?
6) How much time to do you want to spend in the city, and how much on the drive?

tbbeach

Kids your ages will like- San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Big Sir, Monterey, drive the 1 down the coast. San Luis Obispo has a fun farmers market every thurs night...from there to Santa Barbara then LA- Venice and Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Disneyland & Magic Mountain or Universal Studios. Oh, don't forget Malibu-Paradise Cove is nice.
Sounds fun! Just don't have them in the car too long and let them have a say in what you do. We once went on a vacation when after the kids complained we handed them the guide book and they directed us...it was really fun. We did end up in the worlds largest outlet mall but...happy kids makes for happy family. Or is it happy Mom??? Mom.

Michael

The Monterey aquarium, Point Lobos, Hearst Castle, elephant seals just north of San Simeon, La Purisima mission.

http://www.missionscalifornia.com/ke...oncepcion.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...ith/4853767722

Michael

Once in LA, http://www.mjt.org/

Tomsd

Above Santa Barbara - the Santa Ynez Valley has some nice wineries - if you can find something for the kids to do.

The Danish themed town of Solvang is also cute, in the Sana Ynez Valley - http://www.solvangusa.com/ and the drive along Big Sur is incredible. Might be worth considering staying somewhere along there for an evening, Nepenthene has rooms I believe, but even if not staying there, stop by for some of their good coffee/whatever - and enjoy the great view. http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/

And the Aquarium at Monterrey should be a big hit with the family.

Tomsd

BTW - we have great beaches down here in San Diego (2 hours south of LA)- and much less traffic than LA, plus the great SD Zoo and Safari Park (formerly called the Wild Animal Park - a great place to see animals in more of their natural habitat). http://www.sandiegozoo.org/park/special/rolling_safari/

And you might be interested in the venerable Hotel Del - over on Coronado "island" - where "Royalty" has visited.

http://www.hoteldel.com/PressRelease...te.aspx?id=526

richmond706

I recently asked a similar question although we are detouring off to Yosemite but you might want to read all of the suggestions on this thread.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...enage-boys.cfm

Jean

FYI, most hotels in the coastal towns have a 2-night minimum stay requirement for Friday (sometimes Thursday) to Sunday. You'll need to structure your itinerary accordingly. Finding places that can accommodate all five of you in one room (if that's your plan) may be hard to find. If your visit is THIS summer, you should be booking the weekend stays as early as you can unless you have a generous budget. If you'll be here on July 4th (a Wednesday this year), you should make lodging reservations around and on that date ASAP.

megapax

Richmond706, thanks for the link to your post. We'll be doing the SF to LA drive in late August. Now I don't need to ask for suggestions, everyone was so helpful on that thread!